Hong Kong: The Facts - Education

Education

The total government expenditure on education in the 202223 estimates is $111.9 billion, making up 13.8 per cent of the total estimated government expenditure. Of this, recurrent expenditure on education is $101.9 billion, accounting for about 18.1 per cent of the total estimated government recurrent expenditure.

Kindergarten education in Hong Kong is optional, but virtually all children aged 3 to 5 were attending kindergartens in the 2021/22 school year.

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Public sector schools form the majority in the 6-year primary and 6-year secondary education. These consist of government schools operated directly by the Government; and aided schools and Caput schools that are fully subvented by the Government, mostly run by religious, charitable or clan organisations, and managed by their own incorporated management committees or school management committees. In addition, there are Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools, which enjoy greater flexibility in charging school fees, whilst receiving government subvention mainly based on enrolment, and self-financed private schools providing alternatives to parents.

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The Government is committed to developing a vibrant international school sector mainly to meet the demand for international school places from non-local families living in Hong Kong and families coming to Hong Kong for work or investment. In the 2021/22 academic year, there were 54 international schools in Hong Kong, which generally operate on a self-financing basis and offer different non-local curricula.

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At post-secondary level, both publicly funded and selffinancing post-secondary programmes are available at subdegree, undergraduate and higher levels. The publicly funded programmes are provided by the 8 University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and the Vocational Training Council (VTC). Diverse self-financing post-secondary programmes are available at post-secondary institutions with a choice of study pathways and multiple entry and exit points.

Kindergarten Education: Since the 2017/18 school year, a subsidy sufficient for the provision of good quality halfday service to all eligible children aged 3 to 6 is provided to local nonprofitmaking kindergartens joining the kindergarten education scheme. There were about 1,040 kindergartens in the 2021/22 school year, of which about 790 were eligible to join the scheme and 762 had done so.

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Kindergarten Curriculum: The child-centred kindergarten education curriculum emphasises fostering children's learning interest, building positive values and attitudes, and enhancing self-confidence as well as self-care abilities. Based on the principles of fostering children's comprehensive and balanced development, the kindergarten education curriculum aims to help children attain all-round development in the domains of ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and aesthetics. Same as the primary and secondary school curricula, the kindergarten education curriculum covers three interconnected components, namely "Values and Attitudes", "Skills" and "Knowledge", which form a coherent curriculum system.

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Primary and Secondary Education: The Government provides 12 years' free primary and secondary education to all children through public sector schools. The Government provides full subvention for full-time courses run by the VTC for Secondary 3 leavers to offer an alternative free avenue for them outside mainstream education.

In September 2021, some 279,700 children were enrolled in 456 public sector primary schools; about 254,900 students were enrolled in 392 public sector secondary schools.

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The School Curriculum Framework: The broad and balanced 15-year school curriculum framework recommended by the Curriculum Development Council with strong interface helps students build up a solid knowledge foundation for progressing through various stages of learning. It is open and flexible in its design to suit different school contexts to foster students' whole-person development and to nurture their lifelong and self-directed learning capabilities. Knowledge (broadly organised around eight Key Learning Areas), generic skills, and values and attitudes permeate through various levels of learning, ensuring the vertical continuity and lateral coherence of the curriculum.

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Education of Students with Special Educational Needs: The Government adopts a dual-track mode in providing special education. The Education Bureau (EDB) will, subject to the assessment and recommendations of specialists and the consent of parents, refer students with more severe or multiple disabilities to aided special schools for intensive support services. Other students with special educational needs will attend ordinary schools. The Government provides these schools with additional resources, professional support and teacher training. Professional officers from the bureau visit these schools regularly to advise on school policies and support measures in implementing integrated education.

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Education and Support Services for Newly-arrived Children: The EDB provides support services for newlyarrived children, including the 6-month full-time Initiation Programme and the 60-hour Induction Programme, and provides public sector schools and DSS schools admitting these students with a School-based Support Scheme Grant to run school-based support programmes for them, so as to help them better integrate into the local community and overcome learning difficulties. All these support services are available to newly-arrived children from the Mainland, non-Chinese speaking (NCS) children and returnee children. Placement service and information on study pathways are also provided for them as appropriate.

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Education Services for Non-Chinese Speaking Students: The Government ensures equal opportunities in school admission for all eligible children (including NCS children) in public sector schools, regardless of their races. The Government is committed to encouraging and supporting the integration of NCS students (notably students of diverse races) into the community, including facilitating their early adaptation to the local education system and mastery of the Chinese language. The EDB provides various education services for NCS students and supports the work of school administrators, teachers and parents.

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Post-secondary Education: Hong Kong provides multiple and flexible pathways for local students to pursue postsecondary education. Hong Kong has 22 local degreeawarding post-secondary education institutions, including 8 universities funded by the UGC, the publicly funded HKAPA, the selffinancing Hong Kong Metropolitan University (formerly the Open University of Hong Kong), the VTC's Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, and 11 postsecondary colleges registered under and governed by the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance.

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In terms of full-time studies in the 2021/22 academic year, the UGC-funded universities and the HKAPA together provided around 15,200 publicly funded, first-year-first-degree intake places, while self-financing undergraduate programmes offered about 8,500 places. The UGC-funded universities and the self-financing, degree-awarding institutions also provided around 5,000 senior-year undergraduate intake places and 9,400 top-up degree places respectively, mainly for subdegree graduates. At sub-degree level, about 17,600 selffinancing and 9,400 publicly funded intake places were available.

The Government also provides non-means-tested financial assistance to eligible students pursuing fulltime, locally accredited local and nonlocal selffinancing undergraduate programmes, including topup degree programmes, offered in Hong Kong by eligible institutions.

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Nurturing talent in support of specific industries with keen demand for human resources is one of the objectives of the Government to implement the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors. It currently benefits about 3,000 undergraduate students and 2,000 subdegree students per cohort.

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Since 2003, the Government has launched six rounds of Matching Grant Scheme (MGS) to help the higher education sector diversify its funding sources. Following the announcement in the 2017 Policy Address, the Government reserved $500 million to launch the seventh MGS for application by qualified local self-financing degree-awarding institutions with a view to further enhancing the education quality of the self-financing post-secondary education sector by helping such institutions tap more funding sources and fostering a philanthropic culture. The duration of the seventh MGS ran for two years from 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2019. On the other hand, the Eighth MGS, set up specifically for the 10 publicly funded post-secondary institutions, has been receiving application since July 2019.

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Hong Kong as a Regional Education Hub: The Government strives to enhance Hong Kong's status as a regional education hub through internationalisation and diversification of the higher education sector. The Government's aim is to nurture talents for other industries and attract outstanding people from around the world, boosting Hong Kong's competitiveness and facilitating the long term development of Hong Kong, Pearl River Delta region and the nation as a whole.

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Vocational and Professional Education and Training: The VTC is a statutory body that offers vocational and professional education and training (VPET) for school leavers and adult learners. Qualityassured, internationally recognised fulltime and parttime courses up to master's degree level are available for students who have completed Secondary 3 education or above, covering business, childcare, elderly and community services, design, engineering, health and life sciences, hospitality and information technology.

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VPET has always been a key driver of manpower development in Hong Kong for meeting the needs of the everchanging economy. The Government is committed to promoting VPET as a preferred choice, with a view to enabling young people to acquire work skills for the future, applied knowledge in innovation and technology, and critical soft skills for career progression in the new digital age, achieving "masters of each trade". As such, VPET plays a pivotal role in broadening the learning opportunities for young people and working adults as well as nurturing the requisite human capital for Hong Kong's development.

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Professional Development of Educators: The EDB implements `i?Journey ' Paid Non-local Study Leave Scheme for Secondary School Teachers, which aims to enhance teachers' professional capacity and inspire them with the

latest global education developments, to promote a culture of research and inquiry in schools that brings positive changes and impact on learning and teaching, and to create space for teachers to undertake professional development activities on a full-time basis.

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'Sabbatical Leave Scheme for Professional Development of Teachers and Principals' aims to create space for serving teachers and principals to plan and undertake individualised continuing professional development programmes/activities of different modes and types to meet their professional development needs, apply their learning in the education and school contexts and to enrich their professional exposure, to support schools to nurture professional growth of teachers and principals, and promote a culture of educational research and self-improvement contributing to positive changes and impact on learning and teaching, and to establish a vibrant professional learning community and professional teams of teachers and principals to lead the teaching profession in striving for excellence.

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Professional development requirements are in place to help aspiring, newly appointed and serving principals enhance their leadership knowledge and address their development needs at different career stages.

The Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence (CEATE), organised by the EDB, aims to recognise accomplished teachers who demonstrate exemplary teaching practices, to enhance the professional image and the social status of teachers, thereby gaining society's recognition of the teaching profession and fostering a culture of respect for teachers, to pool together accomplished teachers through the CEATE Teachers Association to facilitate sharing of good practices, and to foster a culture of excellence in the teaching profession.

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GovHK Website: Information contained in this publication may be freely used. No acknowledgement is necessary.

Education Bureau Home Page address: Vocational Training Council Home Page address: .University Grants Committee Home Page address:

May 2022

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